There seems to be an
abundance of organ recordings released
recently which I hope is an indication
that organ music is coming back in vogue
with music lovers. Eminent German virtuoso
organist Hans Helmut Tillmanns continues
his survey of the complete organ works
of Johann Sebastian Bach for Danacord.
With this release, which by my reckoning
is the ninth in the series, Tillmanns
is almost at the finishing line.
A remarkable virtuoso
at the keyboard, J.S. Bach is widely
acknowledged as the greatest single
figure in the entire history of organ
music. There seems little point in giving
any biographical or critical evaluations
to either J.S. Bach or these organ works
as volumes and volumes of academic narrative
on this subject have been published
over the years.
For this release Hans
Helmut Tillmanns uses three separate
organs housed in different locations,
the Christensen and Sonner organ from
Hobro in Denmark was built in 1994 but
frustratingly we are not told in the
booklet notes the ages of both the Weyland
organ at Olpe-Biggesee and the Hammer
organ of the Marktkirche in Eschwege,
both in Germany. The booklet notes do
provide a photograph of each organ and
from the picture of the Weyland organ
I guess from its housing and configuration
that it may have been built in the 1970’s
or early 1980’s. The photograph of the
Hammer organ shows it as ornately appointed
and at a guess it looks to be the earliest
of the three by a considerable margin.
I would have liked
to have been given more information
as all three organs sound very different
indeed. The substantial Christensen
and Sonner organ has an unusual sound
which I did not find directly engaging
to the ear. Tillmanns plays four
Choral Preludes and the second
Schübler Choral Setting on
the Danish instrument which at times
transmits a rather thin sound with an
often piercing, reedy tone and a slight
but uncomfortable reverberation. The
majority of the works, namely the two
Preludes and Fugues BWV 552 &
534, two Choral Settings and the
Partita BWV 745 are performed
on the magnificent Weyland organ. The
instrument produces a clear, colourful
sound which is smooth and mellow. Great
in the low registers and superb in the
high registers, the Weyland organ is
one of the finest that I have ever heard.
The Hammer organ is used by Tillmanns
only for the Passacaglia and Fugue
BWV 582 and is a fine instrument
sounding especially warm and rich in
the middle registers although slightly
reedy in the highest passages.
Our soloist Hans Helmut
Tillmanns is a first-rate organist and
seems eminently suited to the considerable
technical and artistic demands of these
Bach works delivering detailed and perceptive
performances. I particularly liked the
tension and high drama Tillmanns gives
to the epic Passacaglia and Fugue
in C minor BWV 582. The Danacord
sound engineers are to be congratulated
for producing sonics that are warm and
detailed.
I cannot imagine anyone
who loves the organ being disappointed
by this top-quality release of which
Danacord can be justly proud.
Michael Cookson
Hans Helmut Tillmanns (Organ)